1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to motor vehicles, methods of making motor vehicles and to certain components of such vehicles.
2. Description of Related Art
Many passenger cars use a longitudinally arranged engine and transmission, where the transmission is located at the front of the vehicle with a rear mounted final drive that is connected to the transmission through a propshaft. It is common for passenger vehicles to use a torque tube to rigidly connect the engine and the transmission: the torque tube having a drive shaft running though it to transmit the drive from the engine to the transmission. Still the passenger compartment must be protected during frontal crashes. Most passenger cars use a front-end structure that is deformable in the longitudinal direction and absorbs energy during crash. The problem with such an energy absorbing front-end structure is that the engine cannot be easily fitted to the vehicle once the structure is in place. This problem is more significant when the structure is in sports cars.
One objective of the present invention is to provide a vehicle design in which the engine and front subframe can be easily assembled in the vehicle. The vehicle should have an engine mounted in a front subframe, a torque tube attached to the rear of the engine which extends longitudinally across the vehicle, and a rear final drive assembly attached to a rearward end of the torque tube which drives the rear wheels of the vehicle. Another objective of the present invention is to provide a front subframe which can be adjusted for use in a variety of vehicles and engines without requiring substantial changes to parts or tooling.